Close Encounters Of The University Kind
by mryddinwilt
Summary: Starting college as a single mom and thirty means Emma appreciates the peace and quiet of her spot in the library. But she isn't the only one who enjoys the maritime law section. Captain Swan modern AU oneshot.
College was hard. The classes, the reading, the midterms, the papers; all of it was hard. And for Emma Swan, who had last attended formal school twelve years ago in a prison while pregnant, it felt especially hard. But Emma was no stranger to doing hard things. She had raised Henry on her own, built a life for herself despite her GED and felony record and no matter how hard college was she knew she could handle it. At least that is what she told herself when she was drowning in tests and pulling all-nighters to finish papers.

As Emma sat in her quiet corner of the massive library and struggled to make sense of her Econ assignment she reminded herself that she "could do this", over and over like a mantra.

"I believe in you, love." The deep and distinctly British voice startled her and her highlighter skittered across the page leaving a green trail over the charts she had been trying to decipher. She looked up but the owner of the voice was already disappearing behind a shelf of large leather volumes. All she caught was his black hair, slim build and a whiff of Hugo Boss.

Emma mentally berated herself for talking out loud. It was a bad habit that she had developed when Henry was a baby. She had kept up a constant stream of chatter; talking enough for two people so he wouldn't be behind in development. One of the reasons she came to the maritime law section was because it was always empty and there was never anyone to hear her mutterings. She had spent all of last semester talking to the air and the thick, lonely books. She hadn't considered that with her change in schedule it was possible that she would stumble on others in what she had come to consider "her place".

She looked down at her textbook and the jittery green trail and felt herself get a little angry. The textbook had cost more than her phone and he had made her ruin it all because he wanted to be funny. She gritted her teeth and returned to her book and her assignment. A few minutes later she heard it; humming. A deep male humming coming from somewhere behind her and occasionally accompanied by the loud rustling of paper. She couldn't see him to give him a death glare but she could hear him and it was disrupting her concentration.

"Seriously. Doesn't he know this is a library?" she muttered to herself.

She tapped her foot. She tapped her highlighter. She wished she hadn't forgotten her headphones. She told herself it was a public place and he was free to do what he wanted. But she knew if he was here on Thursday she would need to find a new place to study.

She glanced at her watch, she had 20 minutes before her next class. It was the first day but her second Tuesday class. She decided she might as well pack up and go in case it took her awhile to find the classroom. She pulled on her coat and put on her beanie before hefting her backpack. She turned and walked toward the exit; the humming got louder.

He was sitting at the large table near the entrance a thick black book open in front of him. His thumb rubbed at his lower lip as he read and hummed. He had a handsome profile with sharp cheek bones covered in scruff. This did little to ease her annoyance. Emma was going to just walk by but as she approached he looked up and gave her a smile. The first thing she noticed was that he was older, probably about her age, the second was the thick chest hair peeking out of his black dress shirt, the third was that he didn't seem at all sorry for wrecking her study session.

She stopped on the opposite side of his table and his smile grew wider.

She held up a hand before he could attempt to speak. "This is my spot."

His eyes widened and his eyebrow quirked but his smile stayed in place. "I was unaware one could purchase parts of the library."

She rolled her eyes doing her best not to let his precise diction unnerve her. "You know what I mean."

He dipped his head in acknowledgement. "Aye, I do."

"I am not big on sharing and I just need to know if you are going to be here all semester so I can find someplace else to study. I got really difficult classes and a kid at home and I need a quiet place to study if I am going to have a chance of passing."

Emma didn't like the way his eyes twinkled, as if he found the entire situation delightful and not at all confrontational like she intended. She glared at him and he dropped his smile.

"I apologize, love. I didn't mean to embarrass you earlier."

"I wasn't embarrassed," she protested. "It's your goddamn humming."

"My–? Was I humming?"

"Yes. Loudly."

A sheepish look crossed his face. "Apologies. I didn't realize. When I get excited sometimes I hum."

The fact that he unconsciously hummed made Emma feel better about talking to herself.

"I promise it won't happen again and you won't have to find new place to study." He seemed so sincere that Emma found herself nodding.

"Yeah, okay."

His phone buzzed on the table. "I have to run." He gave her another small smile and this time Emma appreciated how it lit up his face. He jumped up closing his book and gathering his things. Emma thought that was her cue to walk away but then he stopped and stuck out his hand.

"I'm Killian."

She took it firmly. It was rougher and warmer than she expected. "Emma."

"Emma," he repeated as if memorizing it then he released her hand. "I'll see you here on Thursday?"

She gave him a smirk. "As long as there is no humming."

"I promise no humming. But maybe we could talk a little?"

"Okay. I'll see you then, Killian."

She spun on her heel and walked quickly away. As she crossed campus she tried to get her heart under control. It had broken loose the moment Killian had started apologizing and gone nuts when they shook hands. Emma hadn't had a crush since she was 14 but she was pretty sure this was how they started. With smiles and warm hands and flutterings in the stomach. She was so distracted wondering about what it might mean and how she had been out of the game for a long time that she got turned around on the way to her class. She was almost late but managed to slip into the large lecture hall just as a man in a black dress shirt turned from the whiteboard where he had written "Professor Jones" in loopy cursive.

Emma's heart stopped and she sunk down in her chair as Killian welcomed everyone to Introduction to Criminology. She had practically yelled at her professor. She had practically flirted with her professor. The first guy she had been attracted to and excited about in years and he was her professor. She stared at the ground as he began to explain the syllabus. She wondered if she could leave before he noticed her. It was a big class and she was close to the back. She looked up waiting for him to turn to the computer or the board. But instead he continued talking about what percent of their grade the midterm was as his eyes scanned the room.

Emma knew the moment when they fell on her. He stumbled over his words and his forehead corrugated. He looked away, down at the syllabus in his hand and then continued. Emma flushed and did her best to keep her eyes on the syllabus for the rest of class. If he looked her way again she didn't see it.

Emma was the first one out the door when class was dismissed.

In between berating herself for almost getting involved with a teacher (he is in his thirties of course he isn't a student!) working on her readings and assignments and taking care of Henry, Emma tried to find a way out of Professor Jones' class. It was impossible. She needed the class to apply for the Sociology major. Ridiculously it was only offered in the Winter semester and there were only two sections. If she didn't take it now she would have to wait a year and that would put her a year behind in getting into the major. Not taking the class wasn't an option.

The other section was taught by Professor Edward Teach it was at night which is why she hadn't registered for it. She worked most nights. She arranged her schedule so she was home when Henry got home from school and she went to work around his bedtime. It wasn't a perfect system but it worked. She was now willing to sacrifice a night of working but the class was full and Teach wouldn't make an exception. She had tried via email and in person and he wouldn't budge. By Thursday morning as her and Henry got ready for school she was resigned to the fact that Killian Jones would be her professor and she would just need to suppress whatever flutterings or feelings she had felt.

On Thursday Emma was halfway to the maritime law section, running on auto pilot, before she decided no to risk seeing him there. She changed course and found a quiet place in the folklore and myth section. She did her best to concentrate on her reading and not to think about the class she had in an two hours. It was a little louder than her usual spot but there was no humming and despite her nerves she managed to get through a lot of her work. The time flew by and soon she was pulling open the door to the lecture hall.

She took up a seat in the back of the classroom and did her best not to look at the front while other people filed in. But she did sneak peeks of Professor Jones talking to other students and she couldn't help but notice that the majority of them were female. She rolled her eyes. He was probably constantly warding off his over eager co-ed admirers or maybe encouraging them.

She frowned at this thought. She didn't know him but the way he had lectured the first day about how the law was not the same as what was morally right made her think that he might be one to flout rules, if he had the right reason. Emma shook her head, derailing her train of thought, she didn't want to think about him breaking the rules because that led to thoughts of her breaking the rules with him. And while he was undeniably attractive no man was worth jeopardizing her and Henry's future.

The lights dimmed and the projector flickered to life as the class began.

Killian–Professor Jones–really was an excellent lecturer. He had a passion for his subject and a way of explaining things that really spoke to Emma. It helped that his voice was deep and British and practically demanded to be listened too. It didn't help that he smirked and fluttered his hand as he spoke so that Emma couldn't look away and sometimes she forgot to take notes. She thought he looked at her a few times, or at least in her general area. But it was dark and she was pretty sure he didn't know she was there. He had probably forgotten she existed.

As the last slide flashed away Emma checked the clock, the hour had flown by and she thought maybe this wouldn't be so bad; she could do this for a semester. People started to put away their things as Professor Jones reminded them of the reading assignment over the growing noise.

"Thanks again for coming and I need–," he looked down at a paper as if looking for a name "Ms. Emma Swan to come talk to me."

Emma froze and looked up from her bag to find his eyes fixed on her. He hadn't forgotten her and he knew exactly where she was sitting. He had an eyebrow raised in an almost challenge and Emma looked activity continued around her and after a moment she finished zipping up her bag, lifted it to her shoulder, and made her way to the front of the lecture hall.

By the time she reached him the room was practically empty. He was shuffling through his lecture notes but looked up with a smile when she approached. Her stomach flipped.

"Ms. Swan. I was wondering what are you doing Wednesday night?"

Emma didn't know what she had expected but a blatant date invitation was definitely not it.

"Excuse me?" Her tone was a mix of surprise and offense.

"Are you free Wednesday nights?"

"I– I don't think that is any of your business _Professor_ Jones."

His brow furrowed and Emma wondered if he had ever been rejected in his life. "Don't get me wrong you are very attractive and we had a moment, or whatever." He was smiling again but Emma plowed ahead. "But I have worked hard to get here and I am not throwing everything away for some kind of fling with my professor."

He raised an eyebrow and gave her an approving nod. Then he offered her a piece of paper.

"What's that? Some kind of sexual harassment release? In case I rejected you?"

He let out a chuckle. "You are certainly a force to be reckoned with, Em– Ms. Swan."

Emma suppressed a smile–she liked that assessment–and took the paper.

"It's special permission to join Professor Edward Teach's section. It meets on Wednesday nights, which I understand might not work for you. But I was hoping you might prefer him as a professor."

Emma looked up from the paper to see him scratching behind his ear. She wasn't sure what to make of this turn of events but she felt a flush of embarrassment.

"Oh. Sorry. I shouldn't have assumed. I just–" she trailed off not sure how to explain why she thought he was asking her out. Or how to explain how the idea of him wanting her to drop his class made her feel.

"Don't apologize. You weren't entirely off the mark. After class on Tuesday I did some research and talked with my department head. I can't date a student but if you changed to Teach's section you wouldn't be my student."

Emma felt a rush and a tingle in her toes as she lifted her eyes from the paper and met his. She had thought them green in the dimmer light of the library but they were definitely an intense blue.

"Teach's section was full. I couldn't get in. He was pretty rude about it." Her confession made him grin. His lips pulling up lopsidedly.

"He owed me a few favors."

Heat filled her face. That he had felt something, that he had wanted to pursue it and that he had arranged it so they could do it the right way; it was a small thing but somehow it felt big. And that big feeling excited her even as it scared her. She looked down at the paper and back up. She had been burned before and she wasn't ready to jump back into the fire, especially with a man who seemed like he could consume her. But she also didn't want to walk away. She thought there was a middle way.

"Right. So I'll see you on Tuesday?"

His face fell and he dropped her gaze. "Yes, of course. I understand. I'll see you in class Ms. Swan." He shuffled his papers; the tips of his ears pink as he avoided looking at her. Emma realized that despite his charm and his looks Killian Jones was just as unsure as she was. It made it all a little easier.

"Just remember no humming," she added and was reward by him glancing up sharply and breaking into a broad smile.

"No humming. I promise."

He did hum a little but this time it didn't bother Emma so much.

-/-/-/-/-/-

 **A/N: Thanks for reading. Let me know your feelings on the trope variation! This was one of those "how could I write this trope and not make it squick me out?"**


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